


Somewhere Only We Know

by orphan_account



Category: Mythic Quest: Raven's Banquet (TV)
Genre: Brad is kinda dumb, David is Bold in this lol, First Kiss, M/M, Misunderstandings, New Year's Eve, Sue and David are best friends, author spent all day writing this instead of doing important coursework, he's yearning tho so its okay
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-22
Updated: 2020-12-22
Packaged: 2021-03-10 22:33:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,207
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28224672
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Brad wishes he was anywhere but at the MQ annual New Years Eve party. David comes along and helps that wish come true.
Relationships: Brad Bakshi/David Brittlesbee, David Brittlesbee & Sue Gorgon, Sue Gorgon/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 11
Kudos: 26





	Somewhere Only We Know

Brad couldn’t help but sulk, nursing a beer, as he stood by the buffet table at the MQ office’s annual New Years Eve party. Everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves.

Everyone except him.

Glancing around the room, he could see all of his co-workers wearing bright smiles as they drank and laughed and danced. He stared down into his drink, a pit in his stomach.

He could’ve lied, put on a happy face and pretended to enjoy himself, but there was one thing stopping him from doing that.

In the centre of the room, David was dancing with Sue, laughing brightly as he twirled her under his arm. She was smiling that smile of hers that even Brad had to admit was beautiful. They looked happy together. David looked happy with her. And that was what hurt the most.

See, Brad had been harbouring what some might call a ‘crush’ on David for quite some time. He’s sure that it had always been there to some extent - his officemate was endearingly dorky, after all - but it hadn’t really kicked in properly until David’s divorce was finalised and Brad let himself hope that now he might actually have a chance. 

However, clearly he was wrong. David was still painfully straight, and now painfully in love with Sue. It was evident in the way he looked at her. 

They had been dating for a couple months at least - they never even had to announce it. Their relationship status was obvious from the way they smiled at each other, the way they touched one another, the way they knew each other inside out. 

He wanted to be mad, wanted to yell at David for missing what was right in front of him. But he couldn’t, because happiness was now written all over David’s face whenever he saw him. And fuck if his smile wasn’t beautiful. In truth, he’d missed seeing him like that.

So yeah, it was safe to say Brad was achingly, silently jealous. Incredibly so.

He found himself glancing away as Sue leaned up to kiss David’s cheek. When he looked up, he found David heading in his direction, and he couldn’t handle that right now. He pushed himself away from the wall and headed towards the bathroom, but he quickly realised he was instead following Sue and another woman away from the chatter of the party. He tucked himself into a crevice in the wall as they came to a stop. He couldn’t help but watch as Sue circled her arms around the woman’s neck, the woman doing the same to Sue’s waist, and leaned up on her tiptoes to press their lips together. 

Brad gasped. He never took Sue for a cheater. 

He snuck away as quietly as he could, the two women wrapped up in each other too much to notice him, and rushed over to David at the food table. “Hey, Dave…” He muttered.

“Oh hey!” David smiled at him. “You enjoying the party?”

Anxiety crept up Brad’s throat from his stomach as he realised he was about to ruin David’s new happiness. But he deserved to know. And that’s what kept him talking. “Uh, yeah… listen… there’s something I gotta tell you.”

David turned to him with a look of concern. “What’s wrong?”

The words caught in Brad’s throat, he found himself unable to say it. “Maybe I should show you.” 

David nodded his okay, and moments later, Brad found himself leading him to where he had last seen Sue and her mystery woman. 

It was when they stopped at the end of the corridor that Brad managed to get the words out. “She’s cheating on you.”

David stared at the scene before him with wide eyes, stumbling a few steps forward. “Sue… how could you?”

Sue gasped, startled, and pulled away from the woman. “Huh?”

“You’re cheating on me? After everything?”

Brad felt something in him break as he watched David confront her. The woman beside Sue covers her mouth, hiding her shock. Brad crossed his arms, trying to look tough, ready to defend David if he needed to.

“It's not what it looks like!” Sue stuttered out.

“It’s not what it looks like? Really? That’s what you’re going with?” David near shouts. But then he’s laughing… and Sue’s laughing… and the woman beside her is giggling into her hand.

And Brad is so utterly confused. “What’s happening right now?” He asks cautiously, pointing between them.

David turns towards him, smiling. “We’re not together, Brad. We never have been. That’s Sue’s girlfriend, Jamie.”

“Oh.” Brad said shortly, before turning and storming back to the buffet table. How could he have been so stupid?

He reached for the spiked eggnog, pouring himself a too full cup of the drink before swallowing it down in one go, wincing at the taste. He poured another cup, chugging that too and by the time he had finished, David was standing next to him.

“Hey.” David hummed softly.

“Hi.”

“You okay?”

Brad moved to refill his cup again, not as full this time, refusing to meet David’s eye. “Yeah… I’m just… I’m really sorry about that. I know you’re not supposed to assume, but everyone talks, and you’re both so…” He took another long gulp, cutting off his own rambling. “You get it. I’m sorry.”

David smiled bashfully. “I’m sorry we messed with you. I know you were just trying to help. It was sweet.” He ducked his head, trying to meet Brad’s eye. 

Brad gave in way too easily, David just got to him like that. He laughed softly. “I guess it was kinda funny. It’s nice you have such good friends.” He glanced down into his cup. “Okay, I think that’s enough eggnog for me. God, that’s awful. Who decides to serve eggnog at a New Years party, anyway?”

David smiled a little brighter, leaning to grab a cup and fill it with the bad tasting Christmas drink. He winked at Brad before chugging it down. Brad could only watch in awe and mild disgust as he drank it so quickly. 

David took a deep breath as he lowered the cup. “Might as well catch up, right?” He laughed softly. 

Brad felt something flutter in his chest. Could David be more cute? 

He smiled leaning in a little closer. “You didn’t have to do that. It’s disgusting.”

David shrugged, wincing at the aftertaste. “I see that now. But I’d hate for you to be drunk all by yourself.”

Brad’s smile grew a little brighter as he leaned against the table. “Yeah?” He wanted to ask why David was hanging out with him. Why David thought he was worth the time. But instead, he asked, “So, how’s your night going?”

“It’s been okay.” David hummed, glancing around the room. “Sue kept me company for a little while, but she left with Jamie.” He leaned in closer. “”I think she’s planning to propose tonight. Reign in the new year with a new chapter and all.” He smiled, reaching to grab a chip from the bowl on the table. “So yeah, fun for a while, but I guess I’m gonna be alone for the rest of the night.” He shrugged, smile dwindling. 

Brad nodded slowly, smiling softly. “I hope it goes well for her.” He shifted from his position leaning against the table, turning to look for a drink to wash away the taste of the eggnog. “You’re welcome to settle for me as company, but I will warn you I was planning on leaving pretty soon.” 

“Oh yeah?” David smiled, grabbing two beers from the ice bucket and offering one to Brad, keeping the other for himself. Brad took it with a grateful smile. “What could possibly be better than an office New Years party?” He said sarcastically, laughing softly.

Brad popped his beer open easily on the edge of the table and took a long sip. He laughed quietly, shaking his head. “It’s shocking, but I’d rather be alone, rather than by myself in a room where nobody wants to talk to me.”

“Hey! I wanna talk to you!” David laughed, nudging Brad’s arm with his own. “But if you wanna leave, I won’t stop you. I get not wanting to be here.” He nodded, shrugging a little and taking a sip of his own beer. “Though, maybe you wouldn’t mind if I joined you?” He asked, a light blush spreading across his cheeks.

God, he was cute. Brad was fucked.

He sighed softly. “I mean, I don’t really get why you’d want to” David’s smile fell as he fiddled with the label on his beer. Brad couldn't have that. “Tell you what, if you’re not sick of me in half an hour, we can leave together.”

“Yeah?” David perked up. “Sounds like a deal. Wanna shake on it?” 

Brad laughed, holding his hand out. “Sure.”

David took his hand firmly and shook it, smiling brightly. “It’s a deal.” Their hands lingered, holding each other a little too tight even after they’d finished shaking. They pulled away. “So… what do you wanna do for half an hour?”

Brad finished his beer, placing it on the table and shoving his hands into his pockets. “I don’t know… uh, how did you and Sue become friends?”

David smiled softly, reminiscing. “She kinda helped me out of a rough patch after my divorce.” He laughed lightly. “She brought a casserole to my house, so I invited her in for dinner and we just kinda clicked.”

Brad nodded slowly, smiling. “That’s sweet. I’m glad she was taking care of you.” He hummed, nudging David’s shoulder with his own. “I’ve gotta admit, I’m kind of jealous that you have people who care about you that much.”

“Eh, she’s the only one.” He shrugged, smiling bashfully. “She kind of just roped Jamie into it after a while, but they’re really the only people I have.” He sighed softly. “You don’t have anyone like that?”

“You have me.” Brad shifted, staring down at his feet as he felt his cheeks heat up. “I would’ve brought you a casserole.” He paused. “Except I don’t really know what a casserole is, and even if I did you’d probably be convinced it was poisoned.” He laughed softly. “But, yeah… no. No one sticks around me too long…”

“I’m sure you’d make a great casserole if you managed to figure out what one is.” David smiled warmly, watching Brad shuffle on his feet. “And hey, if I have you, then you have me, okay?” He nudged Brad’s shoulder.

“Sounds like a good deal to me.” Brad smiled up at David, not realising how close they’d gotten until that moment. He froze, taking in all of the new details he could see in David’s face. The freckles and the laugh lines by his eyes. His eyes… ocean blue and beautiful.

“Yeah? You think so?” David whispered into the space between them, eyes darting down to glance at Brad’s lips and back up again. 

Brad’s throat tightened as his heart started to pound harder. “Yeah.” He coughed gently, shifting back. He glanced at the room around them to see if anyone had noticed. He saw Rachel and Dana snuggled up on a couch, Ian and Poppy dancing wildly together to the Christmas song playing over the speakers, (Was he the only one who knew Christmas was over?) Jo challenging CW to a drinking game - he didn’t want to think about how badly that would end. They were all painfully oblivious.

“Do you wanna get out of here now?” David asked, interrupting his train of thought.

“Yeah. No one’s gonna notice. Let’s go.”

David smiled, reaching into the space between them to offer his hand. Brad felt his breath catch in his throat as he stared at it, stunned. 

He took it, tangling their fingers together and dragging him to the coat rack. David grabbed Brad’s jacket before his own, holding it open for him. Brad blushed as he sipped his arms into the sleeves. David tugged his own coat on, wrapped his scarf around his neck, and then grabbed Brad’s hand again, pulling him to the stairwell. 

Brad felt like he was watching from outside of his body as David pulled him along. They looked so much like a couple. He felt something like _need_ ache in his chest. He wanted this - David - so bad. 

They dropped hands as they walked out onto the empty street, lit only by streetlights. Brad made a confused noise. “Davey, the parking lot is that way.” He pointed behind them.

“I know.” David hummed a soft laugh. “But we’ve been drinking. And I thought we could go for a walk.”

Brad laughed. “Alright. Lead the way, D-Man.”

David rolled his eyes light-heartedly at the nickname, and started to walk. For a little while they remained in comfortable silence, their breath clouding the air in front of them. 

Brad finally spoke up as they reached the entrance to a park. “Why are you hanging out with me? I haven’t quite figured it out yet.”

David frowned. “Do I need a reason for wanting to hang out with you?”

“I guess not. But I still don’t get it.”

David sighed softly. “Well… you’re funny. You’re cool without trying. And I know you try to hide it, but you’re nice to everyone even if you don’t like them.” He smiled, nudging Brad’s shoulder. “I guess I admire you in a lot of ways, and I should’ve made an effort to get to know you sooner.” 

Brad couldn’t help but stop on the path, watching him closely. “You really think that?” He said in a small voice, glancing down at his feet.

“Yeah, I do.” David hummed. “Give yourself some credit, Bakshi. You’re a better guy than most.” 

Brad glanced over the blonde’s face, taking in the sincerity in his expression, and the way the chill in the air was causing his cheeks to bloom red. “You really mean that.” He stated, surprised.

“‘Course I do.” David laughed, glancing at his watch to check the time. He walked the few steps back over to Brad and tugged on his sleeve. “Come on. It’s almost midnight and we have a little bit further to walk.

“We do?”

“We do.”

Brad quirked an eyebrow but followed David’s lead anyway. He rubbed his hands together, shivering from the winter air. “Fuck, its cold.” He muttered.

“Here.” David stopped for a moment, unlooping his scarf from his neck and stepping closer.

“Wait, don’t you need that?”

“Nah, I’ll be fine,” He proceeded to carefully wrap the scarf around Brad’s neck, tying it loosely and tucking the ends into his coat. “That any better?”

“Yeah, thanks.” Brad muttered in reply, a little confused but still warmed (literally) by the gesture. “What would you do if I said my hands were cold?” He smirked, teasing as he watched the other man. “You don’t have any gloves.”

David gently grabbed Brad’s left hand and put it in Brad’s left pocket before taking his right hand, tangling their fingers together and tucking it into his own jacket pocket. “This work alright for you?”

Brad blushed. “Y-yeah.”

“Cool.” David started to walk again, pulling Brad along with him. 

They kept walking until they reached a small gazebo, in the middle of an open patch of grass, at two minutes to midnight. 

“Why are we here, Davey? We’re gonna miss the countdown.”

“No, we won’t.” David shook his head, smiling softly. Brad wondered what was going on in his head. “It’s nice out here, isn’t it. You can see the stars and everything. You don’t get that often in LA.”

Brad finally stopped gazing at him inquisitively, instead staring up at the stars. A few moments later, he found himself leaning into David’s chest. He fit there. There was this warmth about him that seemed to pull Brad in. He wanted to get lost in it.

He had thought they'd be too far away to hear the countdown to the new year, but he was surprised to find that he could hear the sounds of people in apartment blocks and offices nearby as they started to chant. _Ten… nine… eight…_

“Brad?” David slowly turned him round to face him.

_Seven… six…_

“Hmm?”

_Five… Four…_

“Can I kiss you?”

_Three… two…_

Brad nodded rapidly. David’s hands framed his face, pulling him in as he grasped David’s waist. 

_One…_

Their lips met, just as fireworks started to burst in bright colours all across the sky.

_Happy New Year!_

All around them was the sound of cheering, of laughter, of colourful explosions across the canvas of the night. But it might as well have been silent. They were too wrapped up in one another, in the feeling of hands in hair and clutching at coats, in the feeling of a kiss a long time overdue.

They pull back wearing matching smiles, gasping quietly in the space between their lips. Brad didn’t feel cold anymore. 

“Happy New Year, Brad.” David giggled it softly, elated and giddy. 

Brad couldn’t help but smile back. “Happy New Year, Davey.”

And hours later they’ll retreat to the warmth of David’s apartment, tugging off coats and scarves as the heating overwhelms them. 

And Brad will laugh when he sees the mistletoe still hanging over David’s bed - a lasting tradition from a broken marriage. He’ll tug David in again, kissing him deeper and deeper still, until they fall down and disappear beneath dark blue sheets.

And they’ll wake up in the morning, wrapped around one another and tangled together, heads gently throbbing from the taste of bad eggnog. They’ll stay in bed for much too long - they don’t have anywhere to be - and do it all over again. When they finally climb out of bed, limbs begging, almost aching, to be stretched, they’ll find their clothes strewn across the room from the night before. They’ll hide their smiles in their coffee cups as they wonder how Brad’s underwear ended up in the hallway. 

And soon it’ll get late again, nearing 6pm on the first of January. They’ll go quiet, neither man quite yet able to express how he feels - for they both feel too deeply for each other to share that early on. Brad will start with, “I should go.” and David will reply, “What if you stay?” 

And Brad is weak for him, oh so weak. So he gives in. He stays.

And an hour later they’ll eat take out on the couch, laughing at a rerun of an old cartoon from their youth. They’ll smile at each other, it’ll feel right.

And when the food is finished, containers dumped in the trash, Brad will take David’s hand and lead him to the bedroom. They’ll fall into one another, hands touching skin, clothes discarded once more. 

And they’ll fall asleep, Brad’s head on David’s chest, listening to his heart as they both come down from the high. 

And almost a year later, to the day, David will drag Brad out to that same gazebo with the excuse of watching the fireworks.

And he’ll wait for the counting to start.

And he’ll get down on one knee.

And he’ll ask a question.

And Brad will say yes.


End file.
